Host country won one gold, two silver and four bronze
Sheldon LongleySend an emailAugust 23, 2022 359 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama — The Bahamas ended up sixth at the 4th Anita Doherty North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Track and Field Championships which wrapped up Sunday night at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
With four medals in the final session, Team Bahamas finished with seven medals in total – one gold, two silver and four bronze.
Winning the three-day regional meet was the United States of America (USA) with 29 gold, 22 silver and 12 bronze for a total of 63 medals. Jamaica, led by World Champion Shericka Jackson, was a distant second with six gold, nine silver and nine bronze for a total of 24 medals, and Canada rounded out the top three nations with two gold, three silver and nine bronze for 14 medals.
Cuba and Guadeloupe also finished ahead of The Bahamas. Cuba won two gold, one silver and three bronze for six medals and Guadeloupe secured two gold and a bronze for three medals.
The order of finish at the NACAC Championships is based on quality of medals as opposed to quantity.
Managing Director of the local organizing committee (LOC) of the meet, and president of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) Drumeco Archer said they are very pleased with the results of the meet and the overall running of the entire event.
“I would believe that we would have accomplished our goal, both on and off the track,” said Archer. “Led by Shaunae, TyNia and Devynne, our athletes turned in exceptional performances and we are very proud of all of them. Off the track, the general consensus of our
international guests was one of joy, enthusiasm and complete satisfaction. They all had a good time. I believe that this will go down as the best NACAC Championships to date.”
Winning the gold for The Bahamas was Shaunae Miller-Uibo in a new championships record time of 49.40 seconds. The two silvers came from TyNia Gaither in the women’s 200 meters (m), matching her personal best time of 22.41 seconds, and the women’s 4x100m relay team of Printassia Johnson, Anthonique Strachan, Devynne Charlton and Gaither, in that order, in 43.34 seconds. Charlton won a bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.71 seconds, Donald Thomas won a bronze in the men’s high jump with a clearance of 2.25m (7’ 4-1/2”), Rhema Otabor won a bronze medal in the women’s javelin with a toss of 57.91m (186’), and the men’s 4x400m relay team of Kinard Rolle, Alonzo Russell, Shakeem Smith and Wendell Miller, in that order, won a bronze medal in 3:06.47.
NACAC is one of six area associations under World Athletics that caters to athletes in the North American, Central American and Caribbean region. It is the governing body of athletics in the area.
Some of the greatest athletes in the world hail from the NACAC region, and the area usually produces the most medals and global champions at the world championships or the Olympics.
The seven medals won by The Bahamas is the most by a national team at the NACAC Championships. In 2007 in San Salvador, El Salvador, The Bahamas did not participate. In 2015 in San José, Costa Rica, The Bahamas finished with two silver and three bronze for five medals. At the 2018 NACAC Championships in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The Bahamas won two bronze medals.
This year, in Freeport, The Bahamas won a gold, two silver and four bronze for a total of seven medals as the host nation. It’s the highest finish ever for The Bahamas in the medal standings at the NACAC Championships.
Also, with more 420 athletes in action, this was the largest NACAC Championships in terms of participation.
A total of 23 championship records were set at the three-day meet.
Ronald Cartwright served as the Head Coach of the team and he was assisted by Tito Moss, Robert Ayton, Jason Larimore and Corrington Maycock. The Team Manager was Renee “Sunshine” Davis.